Jeremiah Anderson

Name: Jeremiah Anderson

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: American sign language, basketball, camping, rap

Appearance: Jeremiah is presents a lean figure at 6'8" and 227 lbs. His muscle mass has been cultivated through years of hiking, urban and forest exploration, street and school-sponsored basketball games, and informal exercise routines. His overall body type is slim and gangly with longer than average arms and legs and skinny digits. There are small scars from both acne and minor injuries received during his attempts at exploration in a variety of natural settings across his body, though the acne scars are mainly clustered along his upper back and shoulders. Scars from wounds include a diagonal streak through his right eyebrow, an inch crescent scratch along the back of his left hand, several marks of varying size along his back from falls and debris, and a two inch long cut along his left bicep. His feet are rough and calloused, as he rarely wears shoes unless required.

He developed argyria at an early age due to overexposure to colloidal silver, and while years without the supplement has reduced his condition his skin is still a faded grey with tinges of blue. His hair is brown and kept buzzcut. Facially he has large ears, a hooked nose, dark brown eyes, a yellowed smile with slightly crooked teeth, and a square jaw. His facial hair grows slowly and unevenly, so he keeps his face clean-shaven.

Jeremiah sticks to donated clothing for the most part. His adoptive parents regularly buy him new clothes, but wearing them instead of serviceable used clothes makes him feel wasteful. He only wears them for special occasions or when his guardians guilt him into them. Due to his larger than average size he often ends up wearing clothes that are baggy on him, having been drawn from Big and Tall Men's collections meant for more overweight individuals. His wardrobe is also supplemented by hand-me-downs from his father, who is of similar size though much more overweight. It is rare for him to find anything that fits reasonably and he does not replace items often, leading to many of his outfits being ripped or stained in various places. On the day of the abduction he was wearing a pair of too large torn cargo pants with a brown and green camo pattern, a green and black baseball cap for a local office league which reads "Rockets '77", a black sleeveless shirt, and a very large, white button-up, short sleeved silk shirt showing a rainbow over an island set under a series of messy black kanji characters, as well as a pair of brown sandals.

Biography: Jeremiah was born to Harold and Cherelle Anderson on January 16th of 2000. The couple were natives to Chattanooga, having lived in the area their entire lives and in the trailer that would be Jeremiah's home since they were married six months prior. The couple married young just a few months after they learned of Cherelle's pregnancy, with Harold only recently graduated at 18 and Cherelle dropping out of school after her 18th birthday in the following summer month. Harold came from hard working but absent parents who were often emotionally and physically unavailable as he was growing up.This gave him a strong sense of self-reliance as well as resentment towards their abandonment. Cherelle found his passion charming, but her family saw him as a volatile influence. Even prior to her pregnancy they did not approve of the relationship; learning she was having a child out of wedlock only them more distrustful.They would fight constantly in the months leading up to the marriage until finally the couple cut contact for a courthouse wedding and used their combined meager savings to put a down payment on a mobile home with reasonable rent.

Harold found steady work thirty-five hours a week as a janitor in the city while filling the rest of his working hours with odd jobs as he could find them. Cherelle stayed home to care for Jeremiah, and though they often struggled financially they refused to seek assistance from their families, their neighbors, or the government. Harold valued what he viewed as hard, honest work and was disgusted at the idea of feeling he owed anything to anyone who might look down on his family, and Cherelle was captivated by his views. While she had worked part-time as a waitress through high school, as soon as they were married Harold insisted she leave her job. Working women were an influence he felt were destroying the image of traditional family, which in his mind was the very foundation of society. However, they were far from the only issue Harold was wary of; many of Jeremiah's earliest memories are at his mother's side or in her lap listening to his father express distrust for some aspect of the world outside their trailer. These lectures were always followed by affirmations that their family was the only thing that mattered. No matter what troubles they faced there was comfort in the fiercely protective environment his parents created. Despite this comfort, many of Harold's fears bordered on or crossed directly into bigotry. Everything from advancing technology to progressive ideology to growing immigrant populations was met with suspicion to outright hatred, and Harold had a special contempt reserved for men he felt did not do their duty by protecting their families, and by extension society, from outside influences that would corrupt their way of life. As the years went on Harold would impress these views upon Jeremiah with increasing urgency, and only expected to hear back what he'd been teaching him.

As a consequence Jeremiah was a quiet child who rarely spoke, especially to anyone but his mother. At home and at school he would use gestures and expressions, or single words to convey his wants, though when pushed he would make simple sentences. This was not seen as unusual for kindergarten student, and Cherelle found it cute. He was taught to be polite and to answer questions when asked, but otherwise was not pressured to speak. At home he would have short conversations with his mother, but would grow quiet when his father was around. At the time this was not out of fear, but habit and curiosity; his father often expected him to repeat or expand on things he had just said, so Jeremiah became used to stopping whatever he was doing to listen to him.

In 2009 Cherelle's health began declining; for months she complained of spells fatigue and dizziness no matter how much she rested. As these symptoms worsened, the family began looking for new options. Harold's job did not provide health insurance and he was as distrustful of doctors as he was other institutions of authority, so they had always relied on simple home remedies. As these failed, a neighbor pitched colloidal silver as a natural cure-all, which appealed to Harold. In his eyes it was exactly the sort of thing large greedy corporations would keep out of the hands of honest men. He encouraged Cherelle to begin taking it for her unexplained symptoms while also adminstering it as daily preventative medicine for Jeremiah and himself. This was adequate until Cherelle's symptoms developed further over the next year, causing her joint pain, soreness, and unexplained nosebleeds. The more sickly his mother grew, the quieter Jeremiah became around the house. Cherelle's worsened condition made Harold's temper volatile; he kept seeking ways to increase the family's dosage until he became distrustful of its vendors, instead seeking to make his own at home kit using silver wiring and electrified water. To cope with the continued lack of results he turned to alcohol, which only made his passionate temper worse. Jeremiah learned to remain very quiet when his father was drinking, or he would be yelled at for disturbing his mother's rest. Sometimes his father would even threaten him or throw bottles in his direction, though he was never harmed during these episodes. Jeremiah's habit of not speaking unless spoken to around his father helped limit these incidents, but when he made a mistake or tried to start a conversation Harold's patience with his short, blunt way of speaking would wear thin quickly. It became easier not to talk at all, or to try and run away rather than deal with his father's anger. When she had the strength Cherelle would intercede, but the strain of her attempts could just as often stir his anger more. Jeremiah was never harmed during these incidents, but the threat of violence was clear enough to make him fear his father's presence.

Cherelle's family would try to reach out multiple times throughout her illness, but they were always rebuffed. Harold saw their attempts as predatory, especially since the families had been on strained speaking terms at the best of times since the marriage, and feared they would use her illness as an excuse to try and make her leave them. At first Cherelle agreed, though near the end of her life she would push back against his desires. Jeremiah would spend many nights huddled in his room listening to his parents fight over this issue, both before and after his grandparents started visiting. They would always come when Harold was at work, and though Jeremiah tried to interact with them they were hesitant to be around him unless he was with his mother. Sometimes these visits were pleasant enough, but inevitably they ended in heated arguments about Cherelle's need to see a doctor or to leave Harold completely. Over time it became clear that they blamed Jeremiah for her unwillingness to leave, going so far as to say that if he had never been born their daughter could have had a better future. Cherelle would refuse to speak to them weeks, or sometimes months, after these arguments. However, they inspired a rare curiosity in Jeremiah and they would often have long conversations about both why his grandparents wanted her to leave so badly and why she chose to stay. These discussions tempered Jeremiah's fear of his father with his mother's devotion to him, and instilled a renewed admiration for their commitment to each other in him. While this allowed him to cope with his circumstances better, it also led to him internalizing much of his father's abusive behavior as not only excusable but reasonable.

Cherelle died in late 2011, with autopsy determining leukemia as the cause of death. Her funeral was the last time Jeremiah recalls seeing his maternal grandparents. Her passing escalated Harold's protective nature into a mixture of paranoia and regret. He was convinced that colloidal silver had let his wife live as long as she had, and if he'd only acted sooner in making his own batches instead of relying on others she would still be alive. He would continue to take his homebrewed mixture religiously, and made sure Jeremiah did as well. Jeremiah had no reason to resist his father. His violent outbursts had dropped off after Cherelle's death and the fear his father had started to instill with him was replaced with pity. While Jeremiah was often free to wander the trailer park and the surrounding area, his father isolated himself from the rest of world. He rarely left the trailer except to work or to shop, and despite his efforts to hold himself together it wasn't uncommon for Jeremiah to find him drunk after school. Rather than the violent, anxious drunk he had known during his mother's sickness, however, his father drank himself into numb stupor. They rarely spoke other than to exchange small talk in his more lucid moments, and Jeremiah had no desire to force communication. His mother's death filled him with complicated feelings since much of his mourning had been spread out over the intervening years and he no longer had to watch her in pain or worry his father might explode, and he didn't know how to deal with the mixture of sadness and relief. As his mother was his primary outlet for emotional release, he was uncertain how to express them without her, and defaulted to silence instead.

Jeremiah became a self-sufficient child. Before her death he had often helped his mother with chores around the trailer, so it was not difficult for him to begin packing his own lunch, washing his own clothes, and taking care of general maintenance like making sure the dishes were washed and the trash was taken out. Around the park and at school he developed a reputation as a respectful, hard working boy who did as he was told, kept himself out of trouble, and supported his grieving father. His relative silence was unnerving to some and could be a frustrating thing to work around in the classroom, but given his circumstances most faculty were willing to be patient with him. Teachers, administrative faculty, and school counselors would try to unpack Jeremiah's speech difficulties as he grew up but he did not report anything to them beyond an unwillingness to communicate verbally. He could provide short answers and his writing consistently met expected language competency. With many students facing more pressing educational challenges his preferences were easy enough to accept.

Jeremiah started playing basketball with a small pick-up group of other children around the park. They played informal games around a hoop hung from a telephone pole; Jeremiah fell in love with the game and when he did not have chores or homework to take care of he would play until either everyone else went home or the sun went down. During middle school Jeremiah started playing basketball on an organized level for the first time. Bad habits from playing informally for so long combined with the awkwardness of his growing body made him a challenging player to work with, but he was dedicated and rarely seemed flustered by his mistakes or the necessary corrections that came with them. Much like his father before him, he grew to be an exceptionally large man, which helped keep him a competitive player until his practice started paying off with technical skill.

At the beginning of middle school Jeremiah met Nia Karahalios, who would become his closest friend. Outside of sports or forced interaction in the classroom, Jeremiah rarely reached out to others, and while this was partially due to his stunted social upbringing much of it hung on his difficulty communicating with others verbally. He saw Nia communicating through American Sign Language around school and became curious. One lunch period he would give her a note asking if he could sit with her, and the two became fast friends exchanging questions about American Sign Language on Jeremiah's end and the unusual gray tones that were starting to color Jeremiah's skin.

Nia was not the only one to notice the changes in Jeremiah's appearance. School administration's concern grew with the severity of his altered skin tone, and multiple attempts were made to reach out to Harold about potential health risks. This perceived attempt to control his family would reignite some of Harold's old passion, and over the next two year he would continue to increase the frequency and amount of colloidal silver they would consume exponentially. They would both develop severe argyria over this period, and while the administration would continue to be concerned the reaction among his fellow students ranged from curiosity to disgust. Jeremiah grew used to staring, pointing, whispering, questions, and insults from other children, though he did not know what to do other than endure them. The comments on his appearance were uncomfortable, but what hurt him most was others trying to force him to speak. His silence, or even worse his frustrated stammering, were easy targets for bullying. It wasn't difficult to run away from his bullies, but these incidents made him even more self-conscious about his ability to speak and he did not know how to hold the resulting shame and anger in as well as other emotions. One evening he made the mistake of coming home crying. Harold was drunk and demanded an explanation, which Jeremiah did his best to provide. Eventually his father became frustrated with both his attempts and his sobbing. He slapped him across the face before grabbing him by the shoulders, beginning a rant on masculinity and the need for Jeremiah to be strong and untouchable by people who don't matter. During the course of the rant he struck him twice more and called him a variety of names, including homophobic slurs. Jeremiah had heard his father's dim, slurred views on homosexuality and the lack of strong men in the today's world often, but this was the first time they had been turned on him. It would not be the last, however, nor would it be the last time his father hit him.

Now more than ever Jeremiah associated being home with tension and the constant threat of violence, which led him to seek other outlets. He still played basketball with his friends in the trailer park, but even that felt too close to home at times. He began to walk, bike, or take public transport to parks around the Chattanooga area looking for pick-up games he could join. The parks also introduced him to a love of nature, and when he was unable to find games he would spend long hours on the trails walking and sitting among the trees. Being out of the house allowed Jeremiah to indulge another new interest: music. Jeremiah saved his small allowance to buy a Walkman CD player, a cheap pair of headphones, and CDs that seemed interesting in the city's thrift stores. He was too afraid the noise might anger his father to listen at home, but he nearly always had something playing when he was out of the house. Rap became his favorite genre, though at the time he had no direction for developing this interest other than listening to random, cheap albums. Nia would introduce him to the Chattanooga Public Library, which would become another refuge away from home for him. Limited use of the internet and access to their catalog of CDs helped him narrow his taste in music. A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, DMX, Eminem, Big Pun, and GZA were strong early influences on his tastes.

While Jeremiah was attempting to cope with his home situation through absence, the school had noticed bruises over the last few months. Jeremiah never blamed his father for them when questioned, and at first the administration was hesitant to report but when his injuries formed a consistent pattern, Child Protective Services became involved. The following investigation deemed Harold unfit as Jeremiah's guardian. Jeremiah was placed in the foster care system at 12 years old while Harold was court ordered to Alcoholics Anonymous and given two short, supervised visits a month with his son. Initially the plan was to place Jeremiah with either of his grandparents, but his lack of contact with them made him hesitant. Harold's parents barely spoke to his caseworker in the first place, and while Cherelle's parents were more cooperative they were equally firm that they wanted nothing to do with him or his father, especially after their daughter's death. With family ruled out as a viable option his caseworker moved to looking for someone who could support his difficulties with communication. Shortly after he was placed with Regina Walker, a local instructor for preschool and kindergarten deaf children. Jeremiah was slow to accept her assistance at first, but their connection through ASL made him much more willing to try.

Living with Regina was a large adjustment for Jeremiah. While things such as having access to his own computer to expand his musical curiosity or easier access to public transit to explore the city intrigued him, other aspects of his new situation confused him. Regina and her long term girlfriend, Marigold Tenly, were both very supportive of his needs, he was uncomfortable with his first real contact with homosexuality outside of his father's tirades. He had difficulty placing why he was uncomfortable beyond being taught he should be; he was full of questions, but afraid that asking any of them would end in Regina abandoning him. They would not discuss his discomfort frankly until several months later while deciding whether Jeremiah would be living with Regina permanently. His fears of abandonment were unfounded, and together they began the long process of healing some of the toxic ideals his father had trained into him.

Going into high school Jeremiah's interest in rap grew from listening to it to wanting to make and perform it. At first this interest was largely centered in making ASL interpretations of his favorite songs for himself or for Nia, but with some prompting on her part he began performing his interpretations at school and local talent shows. Performing for a crowd gives him a sense of satisfaction he hasn't been able to find anywhere else, and while he only performs other's songs for now he works on his own in private. Hehopes one day to have the confidence to put his music out to the world. A few of his attempts have been posted online, self-consciously retracted, and re-posted with encouragement under the handle Blu-J, derived from Nia's sign name for him.

Jeremiah's love of nature has grown with his independence. At 16 he began taking night and weekend janitorial work. These shifts let him work without the expectation of interacting with other people often, which he finds valuable. It has not occurred to him that he is in the same field as his father was, as he has not thought of his father as a normal human with a life outside their warped relationship in many years. He splits the wages between savings, entertainment purchases, a few small bills, and organizing short trips to Prentince Cooper State Forest. He enjoys biking to the forest and camping, usually for a night or two but up to a week during the summer. He'll watch birds, identify plants or animal tracks, and practice his music in peace. He has developed some practical knowledge of outdoorsmanship such as identifying poisonous and medicinal plants, building fires, and taking shelter in bad weather. However, he often hurts himself due to carelessness while trying to explore. He has many small scars from falls down trees, hills, and trails trying to push himself past his expertise, though he has never suffered any serious injury. Many of his injuries would be less obvious with proper treatment; an inherited distrust of the medical system leaves him relying on first aid to clean and care for his wounds, and while he does well enough for an amateur, professional care would have lessened much of his scarring. This is a frequent point of contention between him and Regina. She refuses to force him to seek care, but she is worried that one day he'll hurt himself in a way he can't shrug off. Whenever work and his tolerance for company allow her she travels with him to reign in his impulses.

Jeremiah continued to make basketball his main extracurricular focus into high school and maintains a position on the team to this day. He plays Power Forward and is closer with members of the basketball team than he is with most other students. Playing puts him in a more focused, at ease mindset than most activities, making him more vocal than usual. Occasionally he will give suggestions or words of encouragement unprompted during play, though after the game is finished he returns to his usual withdrawn self.

Academically Jeremiah is an average student; he maintains a C+ average which could be higher if he put in greater effort. He receives both tutoring and encouragement from friends and his caregivers, but he has little interest in most subjects and no academic aspirations, so he feels no need to push himself. His time is better spent practicing, working, or socializing with his limited circle of friends.

Jeremiah has grown very close with Regina in his years living with her. She is supportive of both his artistic and athletic passions, rarely missing a game or performance. Outside of Nia she is the only person he feels he can discuss nearly anything with, largely due to the fact that they communicate almost exclusively in sign. He enjoys a casual but distant relationship with her girlfriend Marigold, but as she does not know ASL or share in most of his interests they have little common ground to get closer.

Jeremiah's relationship with his father is strained. Their supervised visits have grown into unsupervised visits at Jeremiah's discretion, though he generally visits no more than once a week. They speak as little as possible as Harold can still become verbally abusive when he is drunk, though the infrequent incidents of physical abuse became even rarer as Jeremiah grew. Perhaps even more than the abuse, however, Jeremiah wishes to escape his father's vulnerability. Now that he sees his son as an adult Harold will occasionally open up about his fears or regrets from the past. He will cry over Cherelle openly and blame himself, or attempt to apologize for what he views as his failures as a husband or father, or express pride in his son for reasons he can't articulate. Jeremiah doesn't know how to cope with this new side of his father, and prefers to be away from him whenever possible. Part of his discomfort comes from an urge to lash out physically when he sees his father as weak. Sometimes these impulses come even without his father's presence, usually targeted at male classmates or strangers who seem similarly helpless. These feelings confuse him as he normally doesn't want to hurt anyone, and he does not like to talk about them.

Outside of Nia, Jeremiah has a few classmates he gets along well with, but his large stature, quiet nature, and unusual appearance can put a lot of his classmates off. He primarily hangs out with friends of Nia's or other members of the basketball team. He does not attend parties and doesn't like to be around people known for partying; his father's alcoholism makes being around alcohol and those who enjoy it uncomfortable for him, and he strongly associates drinking with party culture. Jeremiah also has difficulty being around those he sees as more fortunate than him due to a mix of jealousy and agitation. He sees the struggles of many of his classmates as lesser than his own and struggles with feeling sympathetic to their complaints. If subjected to enough venting he can become angry and non-verbal, and if possible will choose to distance himself from all contact with others until he calms down.

The future is vague and unimportant to Jeremiah. He has received offers for basketball scholarships, but worries he couldn't afford college even with them. He also worries that it would be a waste of time, as he has no idea what to do with a college education and doesn't feel he is talented enough to pursue a long-term career in basketball. However, he is terrified of becoming his father and wants some sort of escape from their lifestyle. The deadline for that escape feels like it is approaching fast, but he is no closer to deciding what to do. At the moment he hopes that his path will become clearer after graduation.

Advantages: Jeremiah is much larger than most of his classmates and very physically fit, which makes overpowering them an easy strategy. He camps frequently and knows how to survive with supplies in the outdoors. He has a long history of handling intense stress and may cope with the tension of the island better than his classmates.

Disadvantages: Jeremiah has a history of withdrawn, anti-social behavior which may make others less likely to trust him. He has a habit of being reckless with his injuries, and does not have the expertise to properly deal with any serious wounds. He is unlikely to seek assistance from others, even if badly in need of food, water, or medical supplies, which may lead to an isolated and easily preventable death.

Designated Number: Male Student No. 73

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Designated Weapon: Claw hammer

Conclusion: You have two choices, B073: take the opportunity we've given you to forge the new path you've so desperately been seeking, or die as miserably as you lived. - Tracen Danya

'The above biography is as written by Emprexx Plush. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Emprexx Plush

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Collected Weapons: Claw hammer (assigned weapon)

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Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Jeremiah, in chronological order.

V7:
 * Waking From One Nightmare into Another

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